Perkiomen Valley School District elementary student recovering from E. coli

PERKIOMEN — A recent trip to a local farm left a Perkiomen Valley School District student sick with a strain of E. coli.

A letter sent out to parents Tuesday signed by district Superintendent Clifford Rogers announced the student did not attend school “for the duration of the illness and the case was reported to the Montgomery County Health Department.”

Jessica Lester, Perkiomen Valley’s manager of school and community engagement, said the student attends South Elementary School but his exact grade wasn’t being released for his privacy

“We were notified right away that the child had the symptoms but we couldn’t do anything until the officials confirmed (it) with lab results,” Lester said.

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She said the confirmation came in Tuesday and parents in the district were notified.

The student reportedly returned to school this week.

Before Tuesday, other children in the sick student’s class were not notified because nothing was yet confirmed. However, it was determined that the student’s illness could not be transmitted “child to child,” so it was decided to wait for official word on the illness.

The visit to the farm was not done on school time, Lester said, and the child stayed home the entire time symptoms were shown.

The farm was also not identified.

E. coli is a bacterium that is spread through “consuming uncooked, contaminated beef or produce” and also through “inadequate” hand washing, “drinking raw milk, touching animals at farms or petting zoos, and after swimming in or drinking sewage-contaminated water,” according to the school district’s letter.

Along with the letter, the school district provided a hand washing guide and a fact sheet on E. coli,